Chapter 1 : Grasses: An Identification Guide - Google Books Types of grass: In general, cool-season grasses grow in the northern 2/3 of the nation (roughly north of North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma) as well as the mountainous regions of California, Arizona, and New Mexico. With that in mind, here are some resources you can check out to get you started. And remember, identifying grasses in particular is not an easy thing. So if you have a local expert, do give him or her a call. This is a short and sweet handout with pictures and descriptions from Sid Bosworth, University of Vermont Extension. From University of Wisconsin-Extension, this full color booklet is great for folks in the midwest United States. I really like the pictures and the table at the back that tells you about growth habit, weed suppression ability, drought tolerance, how it holds up to traffic, and how you can plant it. If you want a hard copy, you can order it online here. Or just download it and keep it on your computer for reference. UW-Extension also put together a booklet to help you identify legumes. Rangelands of the U. Different rangelands have slightly different plants as well. This one comes to us from Colorado State University. The authors share a lot of information about managing grazing at the front part of the book. There are also nice tables at the end listing plants and their moisture requirements, yield potential, drought tolerance and more. The color pictures in this booklet from Oregon make it a nice addition to your online library. Each plant comes with information about growth form, plant height, habitat, use and more. From University of Tennessee Extension comes this nice book on native warm-season grasses. The pictures are excellent, and the narrative includes information on the varieties of a particular grass. It also includes a lot of great information on using these grasses as forage for livestock. Great Basin Thanks to one of our readers Delinda! The illustrations point out the parts of the plant that help you identify it and the descriptions help you identify it by where it grows and what it would look like as a full grown plant. There is also seeding information for some varieties. So I encourage everyone to check it out too. I hope this helps you this grazing season. AND if you have other great resources that you use, please share them in the comments below. Help out your fellow readers! You make On Pasture happen every week! To be sustainable, we need community-wide support. Page 1
Chapter 2 : Grasses Identification Guide - FSC I very much appreciate the drawings, every grass has at least one page with drawings sometimes of different stages of the life cycle, there is an identification guide in the beginning of the book,and a glossery of terms in the back. Get free quotes from qualified local contractors Lawn Weed Identification How to identify lawn weeds. This lawn weed identification guide includes images, common and scientific names and descriptions to help you with weed id. Photos, names and short descriptions are included in this lawn weed identification guide - just follow the links to the individual weed pages where you will find more images, detailed descriptions for and weed control strategies. Simply type the name of the weed and it will return all of the information found on this site. Why Should You Identify Weeds? A good Integrated Pest Management plan for controlling lawn weeds starts by identifying the problem weed and then learning about its life cycle. When you understand how the weed grows and reproduces, you will be able to decide the best way to manage it. The presence of certain weeds are indicators of possible problems with your lawn. For example, prostrate knotweed grows and thrives in hard, compacted soils. Other weeds indicate your lawn is too wet, shady, infertile or thin. Identifying weeds and understanding how they grow will help you correct any problems with your lawn that encourage weed invasion. There are hundreds of weeds that can invade a lawn - and weed types vary in different regions. This is a list of the most common lawn weeds. Are you looking for a lawn weed not listed here? Need help identifying a weed or want information about controlling a weed that is not listed here? Broadleaf Lawn Weeds Weeds that are not "grass-like" are referred to as broadleaf weeds. Examples include dandelion, clover, and chickweed. Annual broadleaf weeds - Have a life cycle that lasts only one growing season. From seed germination to flower blooms to seed. Summer Annuals - Seeds sprout in the spring as soil temperatures warm. They flower, seed and die - at the first hard frost - in the fall. They are also called warm-season annuals. Winter Annuals - Seeds germinate in the fall, they survive the winter, flower and set seed in the spring and then die as the temperatures warm. They can also be called warm-season annuals. Perennial Broadleaf Weeds - Produce vegetative structures that allow them to live two or more years - roots or stems that survive the winter. Simple Perennials - These weeds can live two or more years but are unable to produce new plants from vegetative structures. Creeping Perennials - Weeds that can survive the winter overwinter and produce new plants from vegetative reproductive structures. Biennial Weeds - Complete their life cycle over two growing seasons. Seeds germinate and the plants form a rosette the first year. The rosette bolts meaning it sends up flower shoots, flowers and produces seeds in the second year. Grassy Lawn Weeds Grasses such as crabgrass, foxtail and orchard grass, that create an uneven look to lawns and take resources from the desirable grass. Annual Grasses - Complete their life cycle in one growing season. Crabgrass and annual bluegrass are examples of common annual grass weeds. Perennial Grasses - Are capable of living two or more years. Sedges - Yellow and purple nutsedge are the most common sedges that are lawn weeds. These plants are "grass-like"- but they are not grasses - they are part of the sedge family. This Form cannot be submitted until the missing fields labelled below in red have been filled in Better Lawn Care Poll What weed do you find most troublesome? Page 2
Chapter 3 : Grass Seed Selector Tool Looking for an identification guide to grasses? Covering 30 species, this chart should enable everyone to put a name to some of the most common species of grass found in Britain and Ireland. A special feature of this chart is a simple-to-use lateral key to enable users to make an accurate identification quickly. Quack Grass Introduction Grasses are an important component of pastures in Ontario. In mixed legume and grass pastures, the grasses reduce the danger from bloat, help to keep weeds out and improve the chances of stands surviving the winter. Grass pastures can supply good yields of quality feed, and the wide selection of grass species means that there is a grass to suit almost any growing condition or management need. This Factsheet identifies the main grass species that are used in pasture seed mixtures, as well as one weed species - quack grass. Quack grass is a common component in most pastures and is a good source of nutrition before it matures. Leaf Characteristics Identification Grasses can easily be identified by looking at the leaves, stems and inflorescences seed heads. The drawings on the following pages show things to check when looking at each of these plant parts. Leaves A leaf consists of 2 parts - the sheath and the blade see Figure 1. Sheath The sheath is the tubular portion that surrounds the stem or younger growing leaves. The sheath can be: Sheath types Blade The blade is the upper, non-clasping part of the leaf. It is usually long and flat but may be slightly folded or rolled lengthwise, and bristle-like Figure 3, below. View of the cross-section of a leaf blade. The tip of the blade can be boat-shaped, or tapered and flat Figure 4, below. Leaf tip shapes Collar The area that divides the sheath and the blade is called the collar see Figure 1. The collar may be broad or narrow, have a conspicuous midrib or be continuous from one edge of the leaf to the other Figure 5, below. Collar types seen from the back of the leaf blade Auricles and Ligules Two types of appendages may be found on the collar. Auricles are claw-like and project from the sides of the collar. They are often absent, but when present they may vary from being large and clasping to small and slender Figure 6, below. Aurical types The ligule is a very thin, tongue-like appendage growing upward from the inner surface of the collar between the leaf blade and the stem. If present, it may be just a fringe of hair or a thin membrane Figure 7, below. Ligule types Stems The flowering stems of grasses are usually hollow and are either round or flat Figure 8, below. Inflorescences There are three forms of seed heads Figure 9, below: Types of inflorescence Timothy Our most commonly used forage grass. It is a light-green bunchgrass. The sheath is split with overlapping margins. The blade is mm wide, cm long and flat with a sharp-pointed tip. The collar is broad and continuous. There are no auricles. The ligule is a white membrane with a distinct notch and tooth on each side. The stems are round and cm tall. The inflorescence is a very dense, spike-like panicle. Distinguishing features Flat, light-green, nearly smooth leaf blades and onion-like bulbs or corms at the base of the stems. Grass Species Timothy Figure 10b. Collar Timothy Smooth Bromegrass Varies in colour from light to dark green. It has brownish, blunt-tipped rhizomes covered with brown, scale-like sheaths and forms an open sod. The sheath is closed. The blade is mm wide, cm long and flat with a sharp, pointed tip. The collar is narrow and divided by the mid-rib. The ligule is a very short membrane. The inflorescence is a large panicle with the branches spreading in all directions. When top heavy, the branches shift over to one side. Distinguishing features A constriction resembling the letter "W" usually in the leaf blade about midway between the tip and the collar. Grass Species Smooth Bromegrass Figure 11b. It has a high number of light-green, hairy leaves. It is a bunchgrass with a high re-growth and recovery rate. The sheath is closed to near the top and is hairy. The blade is mm wide, cm long and is flat with a sharp point tip. It is also hairy on both upper and lower surfaces. The collar is narrow and divided at the midrib. The ligule is a short, white membrane not unlike the smooth brome species. The inflorescence is a large panicle with branches in all directions. It is a bit smaller than smooth bromegrass and has short awns. Distinguishing features The hairy blades and sheaths, and the many, drooping basal leaves distinguish this grass from smooth bromegrass. Grass Species Meadow Bromegrass Figure 12b. The sheath is split part way and is green on the top and pale green or white on the lower part. The blade is mm wide and cm long. It is V-shaped near the base, but flat towards the sharp, pointed tip. The yellow-green collar is broad and divided by a midrib. The ligule is a white membrane that usually has an awn-like point at the top. The stems are flat Page 3
and cm tall. The inflorescence is a panicle made up of several short, thick tufts. Distinguishing features The flat stems and the coarsely tufted panicle. Grass Species Orchard Grass Figure 13b. Collar Orchard Grass Reed Canary Grass A large, coarse grass noted for its ability to grow in very wet or very dry soils. It forms a loose sod. The pale green or yellow collar is narrow and continuous. The ligule is a white membrane that sometimes tears at the top with maturity. The inflorescence is a panicle similar to orchard grass but with finer tufts. Distinguishing features Wide leaf blades and edges of the blade constricted 5 cm from either the tip or the collar. The sheath is split part way and covered with fine hairs. The blade is 1. The upper surface is deeply ridged, and the undersurface is shiny. The collar is narrow and continuous. The stems are nearly round. The inflorescence is an open, fine panicle. Distinguishing features Dark-green, very slender and bristle-like leaves; old, dead basal leaf sheaths are reddish brown hence the common name. Usually a bunchgrass, it has short rhizomes and may be weakly creeping. The sheath is split with the margins overlapping at the bottom. The blade is mm wide and cm long, the upper side is dull and the lower side shiny. The edges are rough, and the tip is sharp-pointed. The auricles are 0. The inflorescence is a slender panicle. Distinguishing features Rough leaf edges, short ligules and claw-like auricles. Grass Species Meadow Fescue Figure 16b. Collar Meadow Fescue Tall Fescue A deep-rooted grass that produces well during the summer and retains its feed quality after being frosted. This deep green grass forms large cm diameter, dense bunches, even though it has short rhizomes. The sheath is split with the margins overlapping. The sheaths are smooth, thick and leathery, and the lower ones are very slow to decay. It is thick and leathery, very smooth and shiny on the under-surface but dull and deeply ridged on the upper surface. The edges are rough. The yellowish collar is broad and wrinkled on the edges. The yellowish auricles are soft and wavy and have a few fine hairs along their margins. The ligule is a small membrane. The inflorescence is a spreading panicle. Distinguishing features Its tall, coarse growth, the prominently ribbed leathery dark green leaves, and the thick tussocks formed by the accumulation of old dead leaf sheaths for several years. Grass Species Tall Fescue Figure 17b. Collar Tall Fescue Meadow Foxtail An early, fast growing, dark-green grass that looks similar to timothy. It grows well on moist soils and forms a sod. Chapter 4 : Contents of 'An Easy Guide to Grass Identification' TurfFiles is funded by the Center for Turfgrass Environmental Research & Education (CENTERE) through public and private grants. Chapter 5 : NCSU TurfFiles Grass Identification Focusing on the color, shape, and texture of the plants, and avoiding the technicalities presented by most botanical guides, this first and only popular book on the subject provides a lively account of the history, ecology, and uses of species of blog.quintoapp.comulture. line drawings. Chapter 6 : Lawn Weed Identification Identify Weeds Weed Photos A guide to identifying grasses. Grasses are most easily identified when they are in flower, using a combination of floral and vegetative features. The structure of the flower heads is quite complex and must be clearly understood in order to be able to identify grasses. Chapter 7 : Purdue Forage Information Grasses have narrow leaves with parallel veins and small, inconspicuous flowers. Stems are usually round and have visible bulges or joints where the leaves attach (nodes). Chapter 8 : Weed PhotGallery Grass identification characteristics Page 4
Turfgrass Identification. Chapter 9 : Turfgrass Identification Using this guide Parts of a grass plant Identifying pasture grasses weed identification, weed management, grassy weeds, pasture grass identification. Page 5